About the Equipment

Weapon Safety

There are no real lasers used in our equipment, in fact they're deliberately banned. All our equipment uses invisible infra-red light signals, similar to that used by television remote controls. The signals are much brighter, despite being invisible to human eyes, while still being safe and allowing them to be picked up tens or hundreds of metres away.

Where we use other weapons, such as LARP knives/clubs, they will be professionally made LARP-safe items but as they are only used infrequently and to touch rather than strike participants we do not do explicit weapon checks.

We don't expect new attendees to own their own Laser-Tag sensors and weapons, loan equipment can be made available at any game. Contact us or the game organiser directly in advance to ensure that enough loan units are available on the day.

If you're new to our events somebody will show you how to use the equipment and give you an opportunity to practice with it, but it's worth a read through the sections below.

Sensors

Every player should wear one of our Laser-Tag sensors on their head any time play is in progress. If you are unable to wear a head mounted sensor due to sensory issues it is possible for one to be worn on the body. You should make sure your sensor is switched on in play and not obscured, please see our general rules.

Sensors only weigh 75g so are not generally tiring to wear but they are easily tangled in your hair so it is sometimes worth attaching them to a hat or helmet, making them easier to put on and take off.

In most games, a player will have 3-6 'hits' and every time you are hit you will hear a sound from your sensor to warn you. Once all your hits are used your character is 'down' but generally not 'dead'.

Some weapons do 'stun hits' and will take you down in much the same way as other weapons. However they do no lasting damage and you will recover without intervention. Have a listen to the sensor sounds so you can tell the difference. The more stun hits you've taken the longer recovery takes.

Basic Sensor Use

To set the number of hits on a sensorTurn the unit on (usually a sliding switch) whilst holding down the button (usually the only other button), let the button go and then press it a number of times equal to the number of hits you have. 

The sensor will beep when you press the button, so you know you have pressed it. When you have pressed the button the appropriate number of times, wait a few moments and then the sensor will play a siren. After that it is ready for use.

During the game, if you press the button again it will play a number of beeps equal to how many hits the sensor has left before you are rendered unconscious. 

To reset the sensor

Turning the sensor on whilst pressing the button will clear the sensor of any previous configuration and will return to its starting hits.

Silence the Siren

When you have lost all of your hits, the sensor will emit a continuous siren and the LED lights stay on, this can be silenced by momentarily pressing the button, this will turn the siren off but the LEDs will stay on.

We've recorded a few of the common sounds you will hear from the sensor.

Here is the manual to the Spartan DesignWorks TinyTag Data Sensor it is the standard Laser-Tag sensor used in most of our events.

Weapons

Most, but not all, players will carry a Laser-Tag weapon of some kind. These vary from tiny holdout pistols to assault rifles, sniper rifles and sometimes odd alien weaponry. We've even had a techno-wizard's staff made into a Laser-Tag weapon.

With our DOT system, different weapons can have different effects, not just restricted to how much damage something does. Well constructed Laser-Tag weapons can hit anything you see, with effective ranges in excess of 200m in daylight, making for playable tactical combat.

Typically weapons do more damage the bigger they are.

Pistols do 1 'hit'.

Submachine guns do 1 'hit' but will typically have an option fire in 'full-auto'.

Full size rifles may do 2 'hits', but many older examples still do 1 'hit'. Some are capable of 'full-auto' fire.

Large calibre weapons, sniper rifles and so on may do 3 'hits' but it is unusual.

Shotguns do 3 'hits' but are modified to ensure short range.

Sometimes Laser-Tag is used in our games to emulate environmental effects such as radiation or poison. If this is the case your game organiser should have informed you so you are looking out for it. This was used to good effect in one of our 'Fallout' games to model 'rad zones'.

In many games, we also use the same tech for in-game healing, with a gadget called a SIAB which determines the severity of injury and cooldown time before you can return to play.

Most Laser-Tag weapons will have three controls. An on/off switch, a trigger and a reload switch. If you are using a loan weapon, make sure you are shown how to use these.

When switching the weapon on, there is usually a 90 second delay before it can be used as doing so resets the number of shots in the magazine. Always remember to switch your weapon on before play, but also off at the end of a session to conserve the batteries.

Aim for the head if you're at short range. Easy to forget but players will be wearing the sensor on their head only and body, arm or leg hits will have no effect. At medium range this is less important as the Laser-Tag signal tends to 'spread out' somewhat.

Most weapons have limited shots, push the reload button if you suddenly find yourself 'dry firing' but be warned the reload is not instant. You do not have to wait until the magazine is empty before reloading, so keep a rough idea of how low you are and use a quiet moment to reload.

The excellent range on our Laser-Tag weapons comes at a cost, especially at night. If you fire 'past' something very near to you it can reflect the signal and hit you as well as your target. Don't fire 'through' a hole in cover, fire 'out of' it.

We have 'targets' that you can practice shooting, if you're new to UKLTA games please ask us to set one up for you before you start a game. It will make a massive difference.

Here is the manual to the Spartan DesignWorks pistol is a very commonly used weapon at most of our events. If you are offered a loan weapon it is likely to be one of these.